Reliable predictions indicate that there will be over 300 million cellular telephone customers worldwide by the year 2000. Within the United States, cellular service is offered by cellular service providers, by the regional Bell companies, and by the national long distance operators. The enhanced competition has driven the price of cellular service down to the point where it is affordable to a large segment of the population.
The current generation of cellular phones is used primarily for voice conversations between a subscriber handset (or mobile station) and another party through the wireless network. A smaller number of mobile stations are data devices, such as personal computers (PCs) equipped with cellular/wireless modems. Because the bandwidth for a current generation mobile station is typically limited to a few tens of kilobits per second (Kbps), the applications for the current generation of mobile stations are relatively limited. However, this is expected to change in the next (or third) generation of cellular/wireless technology, sometimes referred to as “3G” wireless/cellular, where a much greater bandwidth will be available to each mobile station (i.e., 125 Kbps or greater). The higher data rates will make
Internet applications for mobile stations much more common. For instance, a 3G cell phone (or a PC with a 3G cellular modem) may be used to browse web sites on the Internet, to transmit and receive graphics, to execute streaming audio and/or video applications, and the like. In sum, a much higher percentage of the wireless traffic handled by 3G cellular systems will be Internet protocol (IP) traffic and a lesser percentage will be traditional voice traffic.
In order to make wireless services as convenient and as affordable as possible, wireless service providers frequently sell cellular handsets (or other types of mobile stations) directly to potential subscribers from display booths in supermarkets and department stores. Simple instructions are provided to guide the buyer through the process of activating the cellular handset and signing up for wireless services to become a subscriber. In conventional cellular systems, the handset buyer activates the new handset and signs up for service by dialing “*228xx” on the handset keypad in accordance with the handset instructions. The value of “xx” varies according to the identity of the wireless service provider that sells the handset.
Although initially unprovisioned, the new handset must, of necessity, have certain minimum radio frequency (RF) communication capabilities that enable the handset to become provisioned. Dialing “*228xx” on the handset keypad automatically initiates a special purpose call that connects the handset buyer to an operator. The operator requests certain account information from the buyer, such as personal information, a credit card number, home billing address, and the like. When the account information is collected and the account is set up, the operator instructs the handset buyer to enter several sequences of passwords, code numbers, menu-selected commands, and the like, that enable certain functions in the handset.
This process is frequently referred to as “service provisioning.” Service provisioning may activate in the cellular handset a Number Assignment Module (NAM), which gives the handset a unique telephone number in order to receive calls and provides a roaming capability by identifying approved wireless carriers. Service provisioning may also activate in the handset a Preferred Roaming List (PRL), which is a list of frequencies/bands owned by each carrier in each geographical region and which may identify preferred and/or prohibited frequencies in each region as well. Service provisioning also activates an authentication code, sometimes referred to as an “A-key,” in the cellular handset. The handset uses the A-key to authenticate the handset when the subscriber attempts to access the wireless network.
The wireless network uses a home location register (HLR) to store the A-key, the phone number, the roaming capability information, and other data related to each handset that has been or is being authenticated and provisioned by the wireless network. The HLR is a permanent database used by the wireless service provider to identify/verify a subscriber and store individual subscriber data related to features and services. The subscriber's wireless service provider uses the HLR data when the subscriber is accessing the wireless network in the subscriber's home coverage area. Other wireless service providers also use the HLR data (typically accessed via wireline telephone networks) when the subscriber roams outside the subscriber's home coverage area.
The conventional provisioning process described above has numerous drawbacks. A human operator must talk the user through the process of pressing keys and verifying screen results. This is time consuming and frequently results in errors, particularly with unsophisticated subscribers. Mistakes may go unnoticed initially and the subscriber may become frustrated that the cellular service does not operate as advertised. When the mistake is finally diagnosed, the provisioning process may need to be at least partially re-performed. The human operator adds labor costs to the service provisioning process. These labor costs are increased if the service provisioning process is time consuming, since more operators are needed.
The service provisioning process is further complicated by the fact that wireless service providers frequently make different types of wireless phone handsets available to their subscribers. For example, a wireless service provider, such as AT&T®, may sell SAMSUNG®, NOKIA®, and MOTOROLA® mobile phones to its subscribers. If the graphical user interfaces of the different models are significantly different, a different service provisioning procedures may have to be implemented for each telephone. Additionally, if the wireless service provider installs service provisioning software on cellular handsets before the handsets are distributed to consumers, the wireless service provider must develop customized software for each type of handset, since it is unlikely that all of the different cellular handset models contain the same basic operating system and/or microprocessor.
It would be preferable to automate cellular service provisioning to the greatest extent possible in order to reduce labor costs, eliminate errors, and make the process more user-friendly by minimizing or eliminating subscriber interaction. In particular, it would be more convenient to perform at least part of the over-the-air (OTA) cellular service provisioning process by accessing a provisioning server from an unprovisioned handset via an Internet connection. The 3G systems will make OTA service provisioning of handsets easier and more common.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for performing automatic service provisioning of wireless handsets (and other types of mobile stations). In particular, there is a need in the art for systems and methods for performing over-the-air service provisioning of wireless handsets that minimize subscriber interaction. More particularly, there is a need for systems and methods for performing over-the-air service provisioning of wireless handsets without using different service provisioning software in handsets from different manufacturers.